black satin suit, the garment’s buttons hold firm across her chest. Thank God.
Kell, with a look reflecting our mutual relief, meets her halfway. She bestows a seemingly sincere kiss on her cheek.
“How are you, Mother?”
She answers first with a dramatic groan. “Your poor brother has been running around to these auditions forever, and I’m done watching him get passed over. By our friends no less.”
My mother’s sole mission in life has been to rebrand our family. As her children, we’re more than flesh and blood. We’re commodities. Arms of the empire she’s intent on building around our talents and looks and the mostly forgotten notoriety of my grandfather’s career. The decades-old scandal that nearly killed him is hardly pop culture news. But in Hollywood, his name can still open doors. If my mother finds one closed, she has a tendency to bulldoze through it. Like now.
She absently motions me toward her. I go begrudgingly and accept the brief and emotionless embrace. As I expected, she’s fully immersed in her day of micromanaging the people who will let her, Jaden included. The youngest of us, he seems to lack a shred of ambition in any direction. That he committed himself to anything for six months should shock us all. But my mother is dedicated to bringing us all into the spotlight, one way or the other.
“What if he doesn’t get the part?” Kell asks, tilting her head attentively, when deep down I know she’s just placating the woman. We all are.
Veronica answers with a dark smirk and taps Kell’s cheek lightly. “I’ll take care of it. Don’t doubt it. So anyway, tell me about the book signing at Recto Verso. I saw the photos with you and Piper. They were fantastic.”
Mother hooks an arm into Kell’s and starts leading her toward the office. The remaining assistant and the three little beasts follow along attentively. I keep my feet planted in place until they’re all out of sight and I can barely hear my mother’s exaggerated tones. If I didn’t want to get away from our visit so badly, I might almost feel hurt over the brush-off. But like so many other times, if I stay quiet and very still, Veronica usually forgets I exist. Just like she does my grandfather.
A recognition that lends me strength for my next decision.
I pivot quietly and head through the back of the house, thrilled when I don’t see anyone getting between me and my destination. I leave out the servants’ kitchen and cross the turf that wraps around the ridiculously large pool until I reach the guesthouse several yards away.
I open the door with care. Just as cautiously, I step inside and then shut the door behind me.
“Gramps?”
I follow the low hum of a television coming from the sitting room. I find him there, dozing on the couch. His head is angled away from me, but the buttons on his shirt shimmer with flecks of fading light with his even breathing.
I grin and glance up at the old black-and-white movie playing on the flat-screen above the fireplace. The guesthouse is well-appointed, of course, if unnecessarily isolating.
I take the remote carefully from his lap and turn the volume down.
He grumbles and rubs his nose vigorously. “What?” He blinks a few times before his frown is replaced with a look of surprise. “Kara!”
“Happy birthday, Gramps.”
“Oh…” He lets out a heavy sigh, and I try not to notice the way his eyes shine when he replies. “Thank you, sweetheart. You know you didn’t have to come all the way out here for that.”
Didn’t have to. Shouldn’t have. But here I am.
I take a seat on the couch beside him. “How was your day?”
“Eh.” He tilts his head back and forth a few times and gestures up toward the television. “Just me and Liberty Valance celebrating today. But that’s okay by me. It’s one of my favorites.”
“I remember.” I look up as a young Jimmy Stewart graces the screen just before it goes black.
Gramps drops the remote on the wooden side table. “What’s on your mind, ladybug?”
I warm at the endearment, even though I shouldn’t. I shouldn’t even be here talking to him. And I definitely shouldn’t be bursting at the seams with questions I have no business asking.
He touches my chin, lifting my gaze to his. His eyes are a faded blue, the kind that remind me of gloomy seas and rainy days. They seem to reflect his goodness and all his heartache at once. I reach for